Louise holds a handful of rain
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Thanks to a Valentine’s Day gift from my wife, I’ve been catching up on some CDs I missed last year. I still haven’t talked about the handful I got over Christmas too.
Maps – “We Can Create”. M83 with more of an emphasis on melody like early Chapterhouse era “shoegazing” with a tint of electronica. Really enjoying this – it’s great coding music.
Burial – “Untrue”. This got a huge amount of hype in certain circles & the music press, but it lives up to it. It’s “dubstep” – think grungey dark electronica – a genre I don’t know well enough to draw up musical comparisons with unfortunately. To me, it sounds like urban London at night if that makes any sense at all. The album demands to be listened to as a whole – it’s really well sequenced & produced. It’s not a drop in & out type affair. Loving this.
U2 – “The Joshua Tree” (20th Anniversary set). It’s The Joshua Tree. Everybody knows the first half of the album word for word by now. The second half is as strong as it’s always been. It sounds excellent – it’s great to hear it on CD instead of crappy radio/MTV etc as I have for the past decade. Second CD of b-sides is fine, nothing ‘must have’, but nice to have. Definitely for fans.
Vampire Weekend – “Vampire Weekend”. Graceland for indie kids is how it’s been described elsewhere, and it fits. I’m enjoying it, but it’s not something I can listen to on repeat.
The Magnetic Fields – “Distortion”. It’s Magnetic Fields with Jesus & Mary Chain sounding guitars with great lyrics – heavily inspired by the album “Psychocandy”. Standout track is “California Girls”.
